[chrisdsaldivar]

Another reason for requiring feedback for downvoting is so others know why it was downvoted. There have been many times where I’ve seen a dead comment on a topic I’m not familiar. I know the general user disagrees with that statement but I have no idea what’s “wrong” with it. Conceivably it’s because it’s obviously wrong to anyone in that domain so nobody bothers commenting or it’s a contentious issue in that domain and people who agree or could provide further insight don’t think it’s worth the negativity to bother commenting.

Either way I have no clue. I read a comment recently about setting up a graphics pipeline that seemed reasonable enough but was downvoted to hell. I would have liked to know why.

[dghughes]

>Another reason for requiring feedback for downvoting is so others know why it was downvoted

That will just lead to bickering. And really if that's the rule then you should also be forced to make a meaningful comment when upvoting.

I find that there are times to downvote that don't or shouldn't require a comment. It will just spiral into a comment war tit for tat comments spiraling down into a hundred levels.

[laumars]

> I find that there are times to downvote that don't or shouldn't require a comment. It will just spiral into a comment war tit for tat comments spiraling down into a hundred levels.

I'd be interesting to hear some examples. The only instances that sprung to my mind were instances where posts probably should be flagged instead anyway. However I'm open to the possibility I've overlooked some scenarios (as well as the possibility that flagging might get abused as a way of voting without commenting)